(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to hand held dental instruments that provide suction and selectively provide a pressurized spray of air and water. In particular, this dental instrument incorporates a suction tube having a rotatable, beveled, end that provides both a directional suction, and provides for selective spraying of water, air, or both from the end of the tube.
(2) Description of the Related Art
In a standard dentist's office the equipment usually includes a separate suction system having a hose connected to a suction tube that is hand held and manipulated to remove substances from and clear areas of a patient's mouth. This suction tube is commonly provided with a beveled end to provide a greater suction when the tube is held at an angle with the beveled end parallel to the work surface.
The standard dentist's office also includes a water and air system incorporating a discharge tube. The discharge tube is hand held and a manually operated valve on the discharge tube is selectively operable to direct air, water, or a combined air-water spray to different locations in the patient's mouth.
It is often necessary for a dental person (dentist, hygienist, or dental assistant) to use the air-water discharge tube to clear away an area of the patient's mouth where work is being performed while simultaneously using the suction tube to remove the sprayed water and other substances from the patient's mouth. This requires the dental person to use both his hands for cleaning and clearing away the surface, one hand operating the discharge tube and one hand operating the suction tube, leaving neither hand free to perform other functions. It is often necessary to clear away an area of the patient's mouth where the dentist is working with a dentistry tool. While using one hand to operate the vacuum, the dental person must use his other hand to blow or spray the area. If a dentist is working alone, he must put down the "dentistry tool" and use both hands to clear the field then pick up the dentistry tool to work again. These repeated motions are a great inconvenience to the dentist, they slow down the work being performed, and can cause discomfort to the patient.
Decontamination and good hygiene practices are of great importance to prevent germ, infection, and disease transfer between patients and between a patient and a dental person. The conventional spray tubes presently used are expensive to manufacture and therefore are not readily disposable after each use. Therefore, the spray tube devices should be sterilized by the dentist after each use. Because of the inconvenience of sterilizing the spray tube, many may neglect this phase of decontamination.
The present invention overcomes the above-listed shortcomings of the conventional instruments by providing a unique, single instrument that can be held in one hand and easily manipulated and operated by the dental person, that produces both a suction and a selectively operated discharge of air or air and water, and is also disposable after each use.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved dental instrument having a rotatable suction tube with beveled end that enables the operator to orient the suction opening of the instrument at selected positions in a patient's mouth, and also provides a selective spray of air, water, or both through a discharge tube that extends through the suction tube.